Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 61
Boys actually tended to easily admire their own fathers.
To Zhou Qian at that age, Zhou Chongshan’s only flaw seemed to be that he rarely came home, causing his mother to worry and be upset.
With his concepts of right and wrong still not fully formed, he didn’t yet understand that his father’s gambling addiction was something that was incredibly improper.
Zhou Qian was really too young; he thought his father was very trendy and would play with him, letting him wear the best clothes, ride in the most expensive cars, eat the best food, and buy the most expensive toys… It seemed like he was very good to him.
After all, when he was dropped off at school in luxury cars, many classmates would say, “I’m so envious of Zhou Qian for having such a good dad.”
Zhou Qian admired and loved his own father.
Until he heard that sentence from Zhou Chongshan in the casino.
He suddenly realized that to his father, he might just be an object, just like the colorful chips on the gambling table. It was like he later understood that his father married his mother just because he found her attractive and presentable.
However, after a brief moment of fear and doubt about his father’s attitude, the young Zhou Qian regained his composure, even managing a smile. He felt that everything in the casino couldn’t prove anything. Zhou Chongshan might have just been impulsive at the moment and would surely not really give his own son to a pervert.
Mm, it must be fine. If Zhou Chongshan really lost, he could just pay more money. He was willing to spend money on himself. No matter what toy he wanted, no matter how expensive, Zhou Chongshan was willing to buy it!
But the facts proved Zhou Qian wrong.
Zhou Chongshan did lose, and then actually made an appointment with that “Lao Zhang” at the Purple Banquet Villa 09, on this Saturday.
On Friday evening, after school, Zhou Qian was picked up by the driver and had dinner with his mother.
His mother, Yan Ya, who had long been alone and seldom socialized, looked spiritless and had no vitality, even though she was still quite young.
For Yan Ya, her whole daily life consisted of lying in bed until noon after waking up in the morning, eating a bit at noon, watching TV on the sofa in the afternoon, and waiting for Zhou Qian to come home from school.
The only busy time for her was in the evening because Zhou Qian would come home for dinner. But all she had to do was pick the dishes and give the list to the cook.
That night, after Zhou Qian finished eating and drank a sip of the bitter brain-nourishing soup made from numerous herbs, he looked at Yan Ya, who only ate a few bites of vegetables to maintain her figure.
Taking a breath, Zhou Qian asked, “Tomorrow morning, no, tonight. Mom, can you take me away?”
Yan Ya put down her chopsticks, looking at Zhou Qian somewhat blankly. “Leave? Where to?”
Zhou Qian took another breath and then said, “Zhou Chongshan lost a bet. He wants me to go to the Purple Banquet Villa to play with Uncle Zhang tomorrow.”
Yan Ya’s gaze paused for a moment; her face became even paler.
Then she lowered her head, avoiding Zhou Qian’s eyes, and picked up a slice of cucumber with her chopsticks, softly asking, “You don’t want to go play?”
Zhou Qian retorted, “Do you know what he means by ‘play’? Zhou Chongshan thinks I don’t know. But our health teacher just taught us.”
Yan Ya’s hand trembled a bit, but she didn’t say anything.
Zhou Qian threw his chopsticks, stood up abruptly, and slammed his bowl. “Mom, you…you know everything?”
His voice involuntarily became sharp. It was because what he was witnessing was too unbelievable.
After a long silence, Yan Ya looked up at Zhou Qian, her eyes filled with pleading. “Zhou Qian, last month I forgot to order the limited edition sneakers you wanted. You were angry with me for a long time. But do you know those shoes might cost as much as your classmates’ living expenses for a year? You want the best in food and clothing. If we leave here with just me, how can I afford to raise you? Besides—”
“Your dad can’t offend that man. If he doesn’t purchase from our company this year, the company may face financial issues, and we may go bankrupt. We…”
Although Zhou Qian was still young, he knew he and his mother didn’t need to continue this conversation.
She was a caged canary; without Zhou Chongshan, she didn’t know how to survive.
That night, Zhou Qian took advantage of Yan Ya going to take a bath, sneaked into her room, and found the sleeping pills she needed to take regularly. Yan Ya needed to take medicine every night to sleep. The doctors who prescribed this kind of medicine had strict dosage limitations. Zhou Qian, fearing she would notice something amiss when she picked up the medicine bottle before going to bed, didn’t dare to take too much, only taking three tablets.
Then he returned to his room, picked up a paper cutter, and his bright eyes gradually became dark and heavy.
Zhou Qian maintained a posture for a long time, motionless, lost in thoughts.
Later, his phone rang.
It was Bai Zhou calling him from the home landline.
The phone rang for a long time. Zhou Qian just stared at it but forgot to answer. Only when the call automatically hung up and Bai Zhou called again did Zhou Qian finally pick up the phone, as if awakening from a dream.
At that time, touchscreen phones weren’t prevalent, and Zhou Qian’s phone had buttons. He pressed the green answer button with his thumb, and then he heard Bai Zhou’s voice.
“Zhou Qian, why did it take you so long to answer the phone? Is everything alright?”
“It’s fine. Hey, what’s up?”
“Not much, just a reminder about the class group activity tomorrow. We meet at 8 am at the school’s west gate, then a school bus will take us all to the zoo—”
Before Bai Zhou could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Zhou Qian. “I’m taking a leave; I can’t go tomorrow.”
Hearing this, Bai Zhou asked him worriedly, “You were very enthusiastic when I was collecting opinions about where everyone wanted to go. Didn’t you really want to go to the zoo? Why are you taking leave? Are you sick?”
After a long silence, Zhou Qian, gripping his phone, said, “Do you remember the case mentioned by the teacher in the health class last week?”
Zhou Qian was fortunate to attend a good school.
Regarding the health education class, initially, the school intended to let the homeroom teacher conduct it. However, as the homeroom teacher was quite conservative and old-fashioned in this respect, and after the school leaders observed her superficial approach to the subject, they specially hired a young psychology expert to come and teach it instead.
The expert, worthy of the title, not only spoke openly and directly, presenting many real-life cases from reality, but also knew how to soothe the students’ psychology, enabling them to form correct perceptions so they wouldn’t feel excessively fearful or utterly repulsive when talking about “sex.”
“This matter, when you all reach adulthood, under the circumstances of taking protective measures and mutual consent, happening between people who are in love, is very wonderful. It’s precisely because your parents came together with love that you all exist.
“However, at your age, if an adult asks you to do such things under the pretext of ‘playing with you,’ it’s absolutely not allowed. This is criminal behavior. At such times, everyone must tell their parents and seek help from the police. Everyone must know how to protect themselves!”
As for seeking help from parents, Zhou Qian failed.
He felt there was only one path he could take.
In Bai Zhou’s somewhat static voice that night, he asked, “What happened, Zhou Qian? Why bring this up all of a sudden?”
Staring at the three white pills and a sharp paper cutter on the desk, Zhou Qian eventually just shook his head and understated, “It’s nothing. Just some family matters. I won’t be going. We’ll talk about it some other time if there’s a chance.”
His family always appeared immaculate in front of Bai Zhou. He had always been domineering.
How could he let Bai Zhou discover that his arrogance was all bluff—that he couldn’t rely on anyone in this home?
How could he let Bai Zhou know… that he got involved in such a dirty matter?
The next day, Saturday morning.
Yan Ya didn’t appear, either due to her habit of getting up late or not wanting to face Zhou Qian. Zhou Chongshan, who rarely stayed at home, was exceptionally at home that morning, even warmly heated milk for Zhou Qian with unprecedented gentleness.
He also kept observing Zhou Qian’s expression as if wanting to know if he had discovered anything.
In the end, Zhou Chongshan even personally sent Zhou Qian to the car and reminded him, “Your Uncle Zhang isn’t here right now. You can play with the housekeeper first. He should be back by around 10.”
Zhou Qian was planning something in his head based on the information revealed by Zhou Chongshan’s words. On the surface, he just pretended to be ignorant and asked, “Does Uncle Zhang have Transformers models? Oh, also, I want to play with the toy train.”
“He has many toys there. Take a look. If anything is missing, tell the butler uncle, and he will buy it for you.”
Subsequently, with a “bang,” Zhou Chongshan closed the car door.
In that instant, looking out through the window, Zhou Qian seemed to see that Zhou Chongshan’s expression was a bit complicated. At the same time, his hand was lifted and placed back on the car door, as if he wanted to change his mind and open the car door again.
But in the end, Zhou Chongshan did not change his mind; he silently withdrew his hand.
Redirecting his gaze, Zhou Qian remained silent, leaning back in the rear seat and closing his eyes.
At 9:30 in the morning, Zhou Qian arrived at Purple Banquet Villa No. 09.
An elderly man met Zhou Qian at the door.
Undoubtedly, he was the “butler” Zhou Chongshan mentioned.
The old man looked at Zhou Qian with a complicated expression, but eventually welcomed him in with a kind and gentle tone.
He must have done this many times.
He was also an accomplice.
Zhou Qian understood immediately.
However, Zhou Qian still appeared obedient and innocent on the outside, even acting overly lively, bounding around as soon as he entered the house, scanning almost every room. The elderly butler, holding his waist, had to chase after him to keep up.
Finally, Zhou Qian ran to the kitchen and saw things like red dates and goji berries boiling in a glass container.
He asked the butler, “Is this what Uncle Zhang wants to drink?”
“He doesn’t drink this.” The butler smiled. “This is for me.”
He poured some of the goji berry and red date soup into a glass cup. He didn’t cover it, probably waiting for it to cool down. It seemed like he intended to drink it soon.
Zhou Qian understood and left the kitchen, heading towards the second floor, saying, “So boring. I’d better go upstairs and wait for Uncle Zhang. Which room is he in? Oh yes, please get me a bottle of water.”
“Do you want juice or something?” the butler asked.
Zhou Qian counter-questioned, “What does Uncle Zhang like to drink?”
“He only drinks a specific brand of mineral water. In the fridge—”
“Oh, then could you please get me a bottle of that mineral water.”
10 minutes later.
Zhou Qian was sitting in Zhang Yanjun’s bedroom.
It was the end of May by then, and the weather was already very hot.
But after finding the air conditioner remote, Zhou Qian deliberately increased the temperature.
Midway, through the window, Zhou Qian noticed the butler leaving the villa and going to a small house in the backyard. He faintly heard barking from the yard. He guessed that the small house was for dogs, and the butler went there to feed them.
Seizing this opportunity, Zhou Qian went downstairs to the kitchen and put a crushed sleeping pill in the butler’s cup of soup, then went back to the second floor, looking at the bottle of mineral water on the table.
He had added two sleeping pills to the water.
The room temperature was getting higher and higher.
Zhou Qian was sweating on his forehead and back, but he endured.
Until 10:10, Zhang Yanjun indeed came back.
Through the window, Zhou Qian watched his car go directly into the underground garage, then he likely took the elevator inside the house to the second floor, not seeing the butler at all on the way.
Zhou Qian didn’t know if the butler had fallen asleep, but Zhang Yanjun not talking to the butler and coming directly to the master bedroom obviously facilitated his subsequent plan.
The moment the door was pushed open, Zhang Yanjun saw the less-than-10-year-old Zhou Qian holding a deck of cards and smiling. “Uncle Zhang, you’re back. What do you want to play with me today? Can you teach me how to play poker? My dad is always so impatient. He never plays with me! You are so nice!”
“Poker? Haha, alright. Hiss… I feel that you are a sensible and obedient child. I will play cards with you for a while. Will you… also play a game with Uncle later, okay?”
Zhang Yanjun approached; his eyes fixed on Zhou Qian.
Zhou Qian pretended to be naive and just smiled. “Sure, I wonder what game Uncle wants to play with me.”
Moments later, Zhang Yanjun sat on the sofa and indeed started playing cards with Zhou Qian.
Soon, he couldn’t stand the heat; loosening his tie and removing his suit didn’t help, and he felt extremely thirsty.
“The temperature isn’t right… Why is it so hot?”
Zhang Yanjun stood up and checked the air conditioner, finding that the temperature was set very high. “Hey, what’s going on—”
Zhou Qian exclaimed with a “Ya”. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have touched things. I was playing with the remote.”
Zhou Qian, who also got up from the sofa, picked up a bottle of mineral water from the bedside and pretended to unscrew it with effort. Then he handed the water to Zhang Yanjun. “Uncle Zhang, drinking some water will cool you down. Don’t worry, I haven’t drunk from this bottle.”
Zhang Yanjun gave Zhou Qian a profound look, pinched his face in response, and then took the bottle of mineral water, saying hoarsely, “What does it matter if you have drunk from it? The water you drunk is sweeter, my little sweetheart.”
The room temperature was already over thirty degrees. Zhang Yanjun almost finished the bottle of water in one breath.
As expected, he soon felt sleepy.
After yawning, he lay on the bed and patted Zhou Qian’s head before closing his eyes. “Oh, it seems uncle is old… played too late last night… Now I’m very sleepy. Let uncle sleep for a while, and when I wake up, I’ll play with you…”
Watching Zhang Yanjun close his eyes, Zhou Qian didn’t act immediately.
He first took a pair of plastic gloves from his bag and put them on. After confirming that Zhang Yanjun was asleep, he took out a mobile phone from his pocket.
The phones at that time were flip phones, and the batteries could be easily removed.
Zhou Qian directly removed the battery from Zhang Yanjun’s phone and threw it under the bed to prevent him from calling for help later.
Next, Zhou Qian unplugged the telephone line of the master bedroom’s landline and went downstairs to check.
Zhou Qian found the housekeeper in the butler’s room on the first floor. He was indeed asleep, even forgetting to close the door.
After closing the doors and windows of this room, Zhou Qian left. When the door was closed, he noticed that the sound of the housekeeper’s snoring was immediately inaudible.
It seemed that the soundproofing in this room was very good.
After unplugging the telephone line in the living room, Zhou Qian finally returned to the master bedroom.
He took a glass, went to the bathroom, closed the door, broke it without waking Zhang Yanjun, then collected all the fragments with a towel, brought them back to the master bedroom, and spread all the pieces on the floor.
Then he stuffed the towel into Zhang Yanjun’s mouth, undressed him, raised a piece of glass, and was ready to take action.
Up to this point, everything was smoother than Zhou Qian had imagined.
Because he hasn’t used the paper cutter yet.
It was originally prepared for himself in case his plan was exposed. If he was exposed, he would use this knife to fight Zhang Yanjun to the end, even if it meant perishing together.
But now, Zhou Qian found that he had thought too simply.
Holding the glass piece, he couldn’t do it.
This was a decision Zhou Qian had made after thinking for several days. He even felt anxious last night.
He knew clearly that hurting or threatening Zhang Yanjun was useless.
He had much more power and influence than the Zhou family, and if he only angered him this time without killing him, he would only be harassed by him in the future.
Now he was unguarded, and the best thing to do was to get rid of him.
As for the method to get rid of him, of course, there was only one—kill him.
Zhou Qian took several deep breaths and finally acted after constantly persuading himself for three minutes—
He cut Zhang Yanjun’s belly with the glass piece.
But what happened next was beyond his imagination.
The sight of blood gushing out, the yellowish-white layer of fat overflowing, and a short piece of intestine-like structure protruded…
Seeing all this, Zhou Qian began to tremble uncontrollably.
He subconsciously took out a second towel to cover Zhang Yanjun’s belly, but soon that towel and his hands were all stained red.
Blood…
How could there be so much blood?
How could a person bleed so much?
Zhou Qian, not yet ten years old, was actually a very emotional, exceptionally delicate, and sensitive person.
He loved Zhou Chongshan and Yan Ya very much, so he was extremely heartbroken by their choices.
Such a person was definitely not a born killer.
All rational analysis told him that if he didn’t want to get hurt, killing Zhang Yanjun was the only way.
But now he simply couldn’t make the second stab.
The sleeping pills Zhang Yanjun took weren’t many, and under severe pain, he quickly woke up and struggled.
However, because of the towel in his mouth, he couldn’t make a sound.
But his limbs began to shake violently, undoubtedly causing more blood to gush out, spraying all over Zhou Qian’s face and arms.
Zhou Qian couldn’t take it anymore; he was on the verge of collapse.
Reacting to something, he used all his strength to push Zhang Yanjun off the bed, making him fall onto the pile of broken glass. He then quickly turned and ran away.
Zhou Qian fled from the villa without looking back, darting into the woods behind the villa area.
He quickly took off his blood-stained clothes, vigorously wiped his face and hair clean, then placed the bloody clothes into his backpack and changed into clean clothes he had previously prepared and placed in his backpack.
Then, he started to feel scared. His clothes were quickly soaked with cold sweat.
Is the villa under surveillance? Can sleeping pills be detected?
No…… There are just too many flaws. I simply can’t kill anyone either.
And I don’t seem to have actually killed him. The cut was quite shallow.
I’m not actually sure if the intestines came out… It might have been just fat and flesh…
I didn’t manage to kill him. He’ll get back at me. He’ll get back at me when he’s saved!
Big deal. In the worst case, I’ll turn myself in. I’m still young. I won’t get the death penalty.
Even if I go to jail… it’s better than being molested by him.
Yes, it doesn’t matter if I go to jail…
If this kind of thing was leaked, the shame would fall on my parents and Zhang Yanjun. It absolutely wouldn’t be on me! Everyone will sympathize with me! I’m the victim here!
As Zhou Qian’s mind was in a mess, he felt a vibration coming from his thigh area.
It was only then that he realized it was his cellphone.
Zhou Qian took out his phone and answered it, hearing Bai Zhou’s voice. “Zhou Qian, where are you?”
At that instant, Zhou Qian didn’t know why, but tears overflowed his eyes all of a sudden. He gripped the phone and couldn’t answer. Under Bai Zhou’s constant questioning, he couldn’t hold it back any longer and cried out “Wah”.
After only 5 minutes, Bai Zhou had found Zhou Qian.
In the face of Bai Zhou’s inquiry, he didn’t say a word, except that he felt uncomfortable.
The nearest hospital was only less than a kilometer away from here. Bai Zhou quickly and compulsorily took Zhou Qian to the hospital.
Zhou Qian just cried all the way. He suffered from anxiety and insomnia all last night. Now he had just experienced something extremely frightening. The scene of blood gushing from Zhang Yangjin’s body as he struggled began to flash in front of Zhou Qian’s eyes over and over again… Besides being frightened at the same time, he also felt dirty and nauseated.
Zhang Yanjun’s disgusting, bloodstained body seemed to have merged with his own image. Zhou Qian felt as if he had become equally dirty and disgusting.
When they arrived at the hospital, Zhou Qian was on the verge of a mental collapse; even his blood pressure became abnormal.
In the end, Bai Zhou helped him get a bed in the emergency room, and the doctor prescribed him medication through an intravenous drip.
Under the effect of drugs with a slight calming effect, Zhou Qian’s emotions that were on the verge of going out of control gradually calmed down, and then he fell asleep.
When he woke up again, it was already nighttime.
It was twilight, and the emergency area seemed incredibly noisy.
Amidst the clamor, Zhou Qian opened his eyes. His beautiful eyes stared straight at the white lights on the ceiling, looking a little confused.
It was only after a while that he recalled what had happened.
And when he turned his head to one side, he saw Bai Zhou, who was sitting in front of the hospital bed, peeling an apple for him.
“Zhou Ge—” Zhou Qian blinked and asked him in a dry voice, “You didn’t go through my book bag, did you?”
“No. What, afraid I’ll check your homework?” Bai Zhou smiled and handed him the apple. “Eat it. After you eat, I’ll send you home.”
After a moment’s pause, Zhou Qian asked him again, “You’ve been—”
“I’ve been guarding you at the hospital today.” Bai Zhou’s eyes darkened a little, staring intently into Zhou Qian’s eyes as he added emphatically, “The two of us have been staying together since this morning.”
That night, Zhou Qian felt quite uneasy on his way home.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that his actions were too hasty.
His plan of trying to create a scenario where Zhang Yanjun broke a cup, fell on broken glass, and died accidentally was simply full of flaws.
On top of that, he had no idea where to stab to cause a person’s death.
The more Zhou Qian recalled, the more he felt that he had only made a very shallow cut. Zhang Yanjun would definitely not die.
Since he wouldn’t die, his own end would definitely not be good.
Also… did Zhou Chongshan know about this matter now? What will he do to him?
After returning home, Zhou Qian saw his parents, whose expressions were permeated with a different sense of strangeness.
From their mouths, Zhou Qian learned that Zhang Yanjun had died.
Zhou Qian then heard Zhou Chongshan ask, “You went to the Purple Banquet Villa in the morning… and then what?”
Zhou Qian said, “While the housekeeper went to the yard to feed the dogs, I ran away. I know what you guys mean by ‘play’. I couldn’t stay there. I had to run. I stayed with my classmate all day today. His name is Bai Zhou.”
Immediately after Yan Ya spoke up, she jumped in front of Zhou Chongshan and almost knelt down, her face pale as she said, “You’re really overthinking this. How could Xiao Qian do something like that? I did receive a call from Bai Zhou early in the morning. He asked me where Zhou Qian had gone and said he wanted to send him his homework. I told him the address and asked him to find Xiao Qian later… They must have gone together, ah? Xiao Qian is not even 10 years old. What makes you think… He could do something like that?”
This matter, including Zhang Yanjun’s blood, had become Zhou Qian’s most terrifying nightmare.
For a long time, he would feel scared whenever he thought about this incident.
Even when he saw his parents, he would shiver involuntarily, feeling endless pain.
So, he forced himself to close off his heart, not allowing himself to experience intense emotional fluctuations.
That way, he wouldn’t feel the pain anymore. He would still have the courage to face such parents and continue to live in this home.
But from then on, the way he viewed the world was never the same.
Later on, this whole incident had almost forcibly been removed from Zhou Qian’s mind, deliberately so.
Especially Bai Zhou in this matter.
Zhou Qian absolutely didn’t want him to know what he had experienced, so he gradually blurred his memory of his connection to this incident.
Over time, he succeeded; his memories of everything that happened during that time became increasingly unclear.
Until this very moment.
Because of an illusion, memories that had long been buried all rushed into Zhou Qian’s mind in an instant.
It was also at this moment that he discovered many suspicious details.
Like the role Bai Zhou played in this story.
But now Zhou Qian had no time to think carefully.
Because he was still in the illusion.
The illusion didn’t meticulously enact everything that happened in reality.
In the real timeline, a few days passed after the casino incident before it came to the Saturday that could be said to have changed Zhou Qian’s life.
But in the illusion, the casino, constructed of hazy lights, dice, and poker, quickly receded. The scene then shifted to the master bedroom on the second floor of the Purple Banquet Villa.
On the big bed, Zhang Yanjun had fallen asleep under the effect of sleeping pills.
Zhou Qian saw himself holding a knife at the door.
A voice told him, “Go over there. Take the knife and go kill him. You can’t be soft-hearted anymore. This time, you must kill him with your own hands!”
Seeing Zhang Yanjun, all the repressed negative emotions inside Zhou Qian truly surged forth.
He became angry and irritable, desperately needing an outlet for release.
Zhang Yanjun was like a fish, ready to be slaughtered. Zhou Qian undoubtedly wanted to rush forward and cut him to pieces.
He was no longer the child who couldn’t bring himself to do it.
He could easily kill Zhang Yanjun, just as he had killed Li Dafu, who was similar to Zhang Yanjun, in the instance.
Killing should indeed be very easy!
Venting anger should also, inherently, be an easy thing!
He just needed to hold the knife in hand and go over there!
There was nothing simpler than this…
On the other side.
Zhu Qiang, perched in the tree, laughed sinisterly.
With a voice only he could hear, he said in a low and gloomy tone, “Yes, Zhou Qian… Take the knife. Go there. As long as you go… you can have your revenge.”
“Two more steps forward… and you’ll fall into the swamp. Then you go to the underworld—and take your revenge!”
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